Rats. The last round of sanding left me with a small blister on the tip of my index finger. It makes typing and mousing kind of a drag. Ah, the things we do for motorcycles.

I making progress stripping the tank. Ryca is offering a small discount if you send them a bare tank to work with instead of one they have to blast. I still have most of the underside to deal with. I'm going to hate yellow by the time I'm done.



There are some dings on top of the tank, in front of the gas opening. I think those were from the windscreen mounting hardware. I think the crease is from an unplanned off-pavement trip, the evidence for which is elsewhere on the bike.



To refresh your memory, here's what it looked like before:

Speaking of sanding:



No machine buffing yet, but I'm starting to think I like the vintage-looking high lustre better than super smooth chrome-like high polish.

Here it is with the sprocket in position.

Well, the cylinder will be black.

MotoBuddha wrote on 02/13/11 at 08:34:03:


I don't care much for the high polish glare of chrome. I feel that done to extreme,  it makes things look cheap, like a Japanese toaster.

Here in AZ it can be down right dangerous. The sun light off your headlight or even mirrors can prevent you from seeing that truck signaling for a turn.

Well, a break from the cosmetic stuff and back to the mechanical. The bored cylinder should arrive this week or next, so it's time to tear down the top end.

This is the first time ever I've taken an engine apart, so I'm not one of those who can look at the parts and tell whether things are in good shape or not.  All I know is there isn't anything obvious, like holes and chunks and bent parts.

Here's want the cam looks like. Seems okay to me. I think I've talked myself into a stage 1 cam, though. Oh Lancer...!





And here are the bearing surfaces in the head:





Considering this bike had sat a few years, I didn't know what to expect when I popped the head. Other than carbon buildup, everything looks fine. I might have someone who knows more than me check the valve seats and such.






And nothing shocking about the piston.



There it is, naked piston in the breeze. Also, a peek into the crankcase.




(Don't worry, the opening to the crankcase has been covered to keep crap out.)

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 02/13/11 at 09:42:26:


http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1182464837/15#15

you are going back with new chain guides, right? Is the connecting rod showing rust? Clean is nice, oily is good too.